Just Once
by RagamuffinSundrop
Summary: An AU take on Prophecy Girl's "Think of something cool and tell him I said it." scene.


I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Just Once

"I don't care what the books say. I defy prophecy, and I am going. There's nothing you can say will change my mind." Giles sounded so determined as he made this pronouncement that Buffy would have smiled had the situation been different, had they not been arguing about which one of them was going to go and face the master, which one of them was going to die.

She'd meant what she'd told him. She didn't want to die. There were also the things she hadn't told him. They were the type of things she should have told him, should have told everyone that mattered to her but it was too late to tell them now. She didn't want him to die. She didn't want anyone to die if she could prevent it. She wasn't going to allow it to happen. She'd known when she'd walked into the library that he was going to try and go in her place. She could see it all over his face. She was sure he could see her determination to stop him all over her face. She wondered if he could see what was going to happen next.

"I know." Buffy responded with a soft smile as Giles turned from her obviously considering the matter closed. Buffy took a deep breath as she prepared herself. She might only have once chance to do this and she didn't want to waste it.

"Rupert." Giles turned around, surprise evident on his features at the sound of Buffy using his given name instead of calling him Giles as was her habit.

"Why?" Giles started to ask.

Buffy cut him off. "Why did I just call you Rupert instead of calling you Giles." Buffy finished for him.

"Yes," Giles agreed still looking confused.

"Because it seems wrong to call you Giles, at a time like this." Buffy responded moving closer to him.

"A time like what?" Giles asked as Buffy stepped into his personal space.

"This." Buffy said softly as she raised herself on tiptoe, grasped his jacket to pull her down closer to her level and placed her lips on his. Buffy kept her lips against his hoping that she was going to get some response from him.

She'd noticed him the first day in the library and had fought the attraction to him every day since. There were so many reasons that they shouldn't be together. He was her watcher, she was his slayer. He was an adult and while she may have felt like one at times, she was wasn't. It was illegal. He had a long life ahead of him. She had an expiration date and it might even be up tonight. She could come up with many more reasons that they weren't meant to be together but at the moment she didn't care. If this was going to be her last kiss, she wanted it to be from him.

Buffy was about to pull away, disappointment filling her at Giles' lack of response when it as if the world was suddenly pulled out from under her feet. Giles' arms which had been frozen at his sides were around her, pulling her closer to him, into his body. His hands were caressing her curves as if memorizing them and his lips were moving over hers, leading her into a deeper kiss, tongue licking at the seam of her lips inviting her to open them and allow him to taste her, to possess her. Giles broke the kiss with a groan, keeping her tight in his arms as he looked down at her.

"Why?" he asked again.

"Because I've wanted to just once." Buffy answered cryptically.

"Close your eyes." She instructed him, as she touched his face taking a last, long look at him.

Giles eyes obediently closed, as always he trusted his slayer and it broke her heart. Once his eyes were closed, Buffy kissed him once more and then drew back her fist and hit him hard knocking him unconscious.

"Buffy!" Jenny said shocked as she entered the library in time to see the slayer punch out her watcher.

"When he wakes up think of something cool and tell him I said it." Buffy finally said.

Love you, Watcher mine, Buffy thought silently as she watched Jenny tend to her watcher. She wished she'd had the guts to tell him exactly how she felt, if only just once.


End file.
